The present invention relates to apparatus for adjustably connecting a driving member to a driven member, and more particularly, to such apparatus where the driving member and the driven member are located in close proximity to each other.
It is often necessary to adjustably couple a drive member to a driven member. For example, such adjustable coupling may be necessary in a gas turbine engine such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,436, entitled, "Rotor/Shroud Clearance Control System," issued Oct. 28, 1980, to Samuel H. Davison. This patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference in the present application.
Such an exemplary gas turbine engine typically includes a number of operating components such as a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, a high pressure turbine section, a low pressure turbine section, and an exhaust section. The engine also includes a plurality of actuators for driving mechanisms such as air valves, fuel valves, and other mechanism valves for effecting desirable engine operation. In the assembly of such an engine, the actuators and the valves to be actuated are generally placed in relatively fixed positions and in spaced relation to each other. The actuator typically includes a drive portion for driving a driven member on the device to be actuated. Manufacturing tolerances and space limitations may require that the drive member be coupled to the driven member through adjustable connecting apparatus.
Conventional adjustable connecting apparatus are not fully satisfactory for all such coupling situations. Indeed, conventional adjustable connecting apparatus typically require considerable space and are generally difficult to use where space is limited. Also, conventional adjustable connecting apparatus have a tendency to move out of adjustment.
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide improved adjustable connecting apparatus for connecting a drive member to a driven member.
It is another object of this invention to provide such apparatus which is simple to use.
It is another object of this invention to provide such apparatus which includes a locking feature for retaining a particular adjustment.
It is another object of this invention to provide such apparatus which provides a predetermined plurality of adjustments.